Victor Legley

Victor Legley (18 June 1915 in Hazebrouck – 28 November 1994 in Ostend) was a Belgian violist and composer of classical music, of French birth. He first studied in Ypres with Lionel Blomme (1897–1984). In 1935 he matriculated at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, and there won awards in the study of viola, fugue, counterpoint and chamber music. In 1941, Legley began studying with Jean Absil, and in 1943 he received the second Belgian Prix de Rome. After World War II he played in the Brussels Opera Orchestra and also in the Déclin Quartet, where he encountered the music of Béla Bartók and of Arnold Schoenberg. At about this time (in 1942) he wrote his first symphony, first of a series of eight (the last of which was written in 1993 and premiered in 1994), and also his first string quartet (first of five, 1941–63, 1990) (Randel, Don Michael (1996).) He was chairman of SABAM (the authors' rights association) from 1980 to 1992, and from 1986 to 1990 president of the Union of Belgian Composers.His last years saw a turn towards wind-band music; his Symphony No. 7 is scored for this ensemble. His output also includes 3 violin concertos, a viola concerto, and a piano concerto, among others.